


Something in the stillness

by AeeDee



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Age Difference, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Nostalgia, Sentimental
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-14
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2018-01-08 17:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1135356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeeDee/pseuds/AeeDee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally's feeling nostalgic. (pre-52)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something in the stillness

This is the kind of thing he doesn’t talk about, but that’s because it’s better if most people don’t know it even happened. It’s not the event itself that’s noteworthy; it’s the fact that it mattered so much. Because with anyone else it wouldn’t be extraordinary at all.

They don’t get to talk much, these days. Wally’s settled into his home life and Barry’s busy with his own responsibilities and it’s like the older they got, the more complicated their lives became, to where instead of being hero and sidekick they evolved into separate heroes in different circles with uniquely different routines. He doesn’t cross paths with Barry half as often as people assume he does, and when people ask how he’s doing he often has to lie, assuming the best and passing that on as the truth. Sometimes that’s better, though. Better for both of them, because Wally had to get out into the world and grow up and be his own man and there was such little possibility to really do that with Barry standing in front of him. Wally was comforted to be in Barry’s shadow; but it was as restricting as it was reassuring, and he never knew his true potential until he took those few steps away and took a look around.

So his favorite memory of Barry isn’t from those early years. It’s one of the rare moments, perhaps the most rare of all because it happened recently. Barry made time for him, in the way he hasn’t set aside time to spend with him since he was a kid. Barry planned the weekend off and invited Wally on a trip to catch up, as old friends, see a few sights, get away from it all and even though Wally feels pretty certain it was a necessary mental health trip for Barry to clear his head, it ended up being a chance to see someone he hasn’t passed much time with for years.

Even that’s not very important, though. Not the fact that Barry invited him out, because that’s an ordinary thing. It’s not even that extraordinary that they spent hours driving, talking about random bullshit, shooting the breeze. Not extraordinary that they caught up on so damn much, and that for the first time in a long while Wally felt close to him again, close enough to talk about a few personal problems and trade a few problems and solutions back and forth.

No, that kinda stuff happens all the time among friends. It’s not that rare, even that.

Maybe it was something in the stillness of the moon when they sat in the back of the truck and looked up, and maybe it was something about that feeling of being miles from everything and feeling like you can finally be honest. Maybe it was the sensation that Wally finally felt able to be honest about something he’d been dealing with for so long - too damn long - and that he felt they were both in such a good and calm state of mind that it wouldn’t be made into an issue. And maybe it was something in the way Barry looked at him, and told him he could tell him anything, “You’ll always be the same kid to me,” and he even ruffled his hair and treated him just like that awkward boy, but it was endearing because some things about Barry never change. And what never really changed is how Wally felt around him.

Sometimes you’re young and then you grow older and even though you never plan to make something of it, sometimes you live and die with the same fondness for somebody, no matter what else takes up room in your heart and soul. That’s the kind of thing he means, that’s the kind of thing he can’t talk about. Doesn’t want to trouble anybody, doesn’t want to confuse anybody, doesn’t want to make a thing of it.

He was leaning against Barry’s shoulder and Barry was humming some old song and Wally was certain he felt the same kind of love for him he always had. Something deep in his soul, something real and permanent; something that didn’t change or lessen in the months and years of silence. So the moment is that time when the moon was shining on them and Barry’s swaying to the song he’s remembering and Wally’s leaning on him and Barry’s got an arm around his shoulder like it’s nothing, like it’s normal, no judgement and nothing but closeness and warmth and the kinda love you feel for somebody that’ll never leave, even when they’re not there.

It’s the minute when Wally says in a light tone of voice that he loves him, _goddammit_ , and Barry just kisses him on the face and makes no big thing of it, grins back and keeps singing.


End file.
